


Tuxedos

by Progman



Series: The Unstoppable Batwoman [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batwoman (Comic), DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Mutual Pining, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 22:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7139228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Progman/pseuds/Progman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they got down to it, everything that Kate and Maggie had ever done was about family. Blood, the ones they'd chosen, the one they'd tried to make together. The last one had been the hardest, both to build, and to let go. But, after all they'd been through together, there was no good reason they needed to leave it all behind.</p><p>Not entirely, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tuxedos

Kate shouldn’t have accepted the invitation to the Charity Ball. She shouldn’t have made the trek out to Metropolis. She shouldn’t have donated all of that money to the MPD _in her own name_ , instead of anonymously. She shouldn’t have worn a tuxedo, again, even if it was out of principle. There were so many damn things she shouldn’t have done in the last week, if only because, in sequence, they looked like a crazy person was trying to instigate some intense form of deja vu.

She downed the rest of her champagne and snatched up another glass from a passing waiter. The ballroom was packed almost to the brim, which was saying something. Kate had been to a _lot_ of formal functions in her life, but she’d never seen a police fundraiser with a turnout so massive. Twice as many as she’d see in Gotham, easily.

But then, this wasn’t Gotham. It was Metropolis. The City of Tomorrow.

“Nice thing about a tuxedo. You don’t feel bad when other people show up wearing the same thing.”

Filled with the Memories of Yesterday.

Kate turned around, just as she had years ago, and saw Maggie. In a _dashing_ tuxedo. She sighed into a smile. “Yes, I’ve heard that.”

“I almost wore a dress this time,” she said, chuckling. Little anxiety under there. Just a bit, almost imperceptible. But it was there. “Your hair. I like what you did with it.”

“Thank you.” Kate ran her hand across the side of her buzzcut. “I’m not really in a dancing mood.”

“That’s okay. Neither am I.” She walked up beside her and watched the dance floor, all the happy couples, and parents and children, swaying in tandem. “I only did that to impress you, anyway.”

Kate snorted into a short laugh. “What? You’re kidding.”

“I am not.” Maggie sipped at her champagne. “The irony isn’t lost on me.”

“Toby, right?”

“Mhmm.” She swirled her glass. “Do you want to get some fresh air? All this high society is getting too stuffy for my blood.”

“I do, yes.”

Neither of them moved.

Kate cleared her throat. “I thought you were going to lead.”

Maggie looked around for a moment. “Just making sure we’re not interrupted by werebeasts again.”

“I---” Kate tried not to laugh. “Damnit, Mags.”

“Come on, this place has a beautiful balcony.” She said, cocking her head towards the large, gilded wooden doors overlooking the Metropolis skyline.

Kate followed her outside, pinching her brow as she had the door held open for her, and finally smiled. It _was_ beautiful. The harsh, cutting edges of Gotham were so ingrained in her mind that seeing Metropolis from above was...breathtaking. All rounded and postmodern. Welcoming, progressive and more innovative the further you moved into the city center. Not a cloud in the sky. No rain, no snow. No thunder or lightening.

No batsignal.

Just the moon and the stars.

“It’s so quiet,” she whispered, leaning over the railing. “Is it always like this?”

“At night, most of the time. During the day…” She rested her hand on the metal bar, beside Kate’s arm. “Things can get a little loud.”

“That sounds so…” Kate wrinkled her nose.  “...odd.”

“Imagine what it’s like the other way around. You learn to see in the dark very quickly.”

“Mmm.” Kate put her glass down on the table. “How’s Jamie?”

“She’s great. Thank you for asking.” Maggie smiled. “I worked out a new custody arrangement with Jay, no lawyers, so we’re trying to split it down the middle now. Jamie wants both her mom _and_ her dad around, and, let me tell you, she is an _exceptional_ debater.” She sighed, wistful. “Maybe she’ll be a lawyer one day, who knows?”

“She’s certainly sharp enough.”

“She is, she is. What about you? How are things? How’s your work going?”

“Things are...getting better.” Kate crooked her lips to the side. “I’m sleeping more. Beth is, well, _still Beth_. Looking into a new therapist, but she lives in Coney Island, so I’m not sure how that’s going to work.” She leaned in. “She specializes in ‘masks’,” she whispered.

Maggie raised a brow. “That’s quite the niche market.”

Kate shrugged. “I’m not holding my breath.”

“Probably for the best. So, work?”

Kate smirked. “Working _with_ Batman now. Not for. With. Partners.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Believe it or not, he came to me. He asked for _my_ help, because he has no damn idea how to train people to work as a unit. Or _lead_ one, for that matter.” She threw up her hands. “He just tosses his people at things and trusts them to figure it out.”

Maggie nodded. “Wars and crusades.”

“Soldiers and warriors, exactly.” She pinched her brow. “I’m just relieved he figured that out before somebody got themselves killed.”

“I’m more surprised that he trusts you that much.”

Kate grinned.

Maggie raised her brows. “No. You’re---he _did it_?”

“He did.” She snickered. “Completely dumbfounded. You should’ve seen the look on his face! He made it this whole big thing, built up to it, and I’m just grumpy that he’s in my apartment, right?” She scowled for a moment and pointed to her face. “Had that going for a few minutes. So he takes it off, and he says, I’m not making this up…” Kate cleared her throat and dropped her voice as many octaves as it could go. “We’re family, Kate. I may not be a Kane, but my mother was.”

Maggie covered her face, clearly holding back laughter. “Oh my God…”

“I _know_. I drop the scowl, and I can’t stop grinning, and he’s so baffled the entire act just falls off!”

“That’s all he said?”

“On that topic, yeah. _Somehow,_ the most obvious remark in the world didn’t occur to him.” She scoffed. “Honestly, you’d think ‘welcome to the family’ would be the first thing you’d come up with.” She took a deep breath. “So that’s where I’m at. What about the SCU? How’s that weird ‘s’ working out?”

“Which one? And according to one of them, it’s not an ‘s’.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Well, I’ve got the routine down. Most of the police I worked with back in the day are gone, but I knew that coming in.” Maggie shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s slow, but it’s less _insane_. Other than that? Lex Luthor is Superman. Superman is Superman. Clark Kent _isn’t_ Superman, we've got _two_ Superwomen---it’s one giant confusing mess. If Luthor wore a wig, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

“But, even with all of that…” Kate shifted from one leg to the other. “You feel safer here.”

“Yeah. I do, Kate. I really do.”

Kate took a deep, shaky breath. Taking in the warm, soft lights of the city. The low murmur of the party guests behind them, just inside. Even the smell. It was just... _so calming_ . “I could be happy here. I can feel it. The air is so _different_ , and there’s no sense of dread and darkness around every corner. I could hang up my cowl and focus entirely on volunteer work, and _know_ that I was serving the city better.”

Maggie put her hand over hers. “You still can, Kate. The only thing stopping you is yourself. I asked you to come with me. I meant it. I _still_ do.”

“I know you did. But I can’t. If I left, If I _quit…”_ Her eyes sank into her head. “The only thing I’d ever be able to think about, in the back of my mind, for the rest of my life, is ‘how many people died today because you did nothing’?”

“You graduated from the FBI Academy. You could work for the police department. You could work _with_ me.”

Kate smiled sadly. “We both know I wouldn’t last a month. I’d break every regulation and procedure I could to get the job done.”

“Okay, that’s true, but we can make long-distance work. Toby and I---getting time off was almost impossible, but this is different. You have the funds. You have the time.”

“We’ve been over this, Maggie. I’m sorry.” Kate shrugged. “You really think that I’d _leave_ if I spent the night here with you? I do that, and I’d never go back.” She furrowed her brow and took her hands. “And before you keep thinking what I _know_ you are, I want to make something very clear. The mission is _not_ more important than you. I wouldn’t just be abandoning that if I turned my back on Gotham.” She squeezed her hands. “I’d be abandoning my _family_ , too.”

Maggie chuckled, bitter. “Which I can never ask you to do.”

“Right back at you.”

Maggie sighed and shook her head. “Then why are you here, Kate? What are you doing here?”

Kate bowed her head. “I don’t want to lose you from my life. I don’t want you to _vanish_ like everyone else has.” She looked up and into her eyes, swallowing. “I want to be able to visit Metropolis and just, I don’t know, get a cup of coffee or see a movie or just call and see what you’ve been up to.” She bit her lip. “That’s why. That’s why I’m here, wearing this tuxedo like an idiot.”

“You…” Maggie slowly raised a brow. “...you want to stay friends. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, Kate.” Maggie snorted and pulled her into a tight hug. “You could’ve just called. You can _always_ call.”

“I wasn’t sure.” Kate closed her eyes. “Now I am.”

Maggie pulled away and smiled. “So…” She leaned back against the table. “Why don’t you tell me about this team of yours?”

Kate smiled back. “It’s the A-Team. I’m not kidding. That’s what it is.” She shrugged. “Spoiler, that’s Murdock,” she said, counting off on her fingers. “Wildcard. Face is _Basil Karlo_. Red Robin is Hannibal, the brains. And last, Baracus. The muscle. Orphan, whose surname is _Cain,_ yes with a ‘c’, I already asked.”

“Wow. Dodged a knife there, huh?”

“Ah ha. Hah. I’m laughing. Cute.”

**Author's Note:**

> (The therapist Kate is talking about is Harley Quinn, for those who haven't read her comic. It's great! You totally should.)
> 
> As painful as it is that Maggie's back in Metropolis, and no longer in any kind of relationship with Kate, I have to admit...it makes perfect sense. For Maggie, it was the right thing to do. Not about leaving Kate, obviously, since I refuse to believe they didn't try to make it work after Batwoman's book ended, but rather moving to be closer to her daughter. It's almost poetic that the biggest point to the dumbest plot beat of Batwoman would be retooled into something exponentially more meaningful.
> 
> I can't imagine a single legitimate reason why these two couldn't still be friends. Kate was being mind-controlled by a goddamn vampire. Mind-control is very, very well documented in Gotham. There's a giant fic in that plot thread (that I'm almost done with) but the point is: If Maggie had simply vanished, and not shown up in the new Action Comics with her old job back (like, from the fucking mid-90s), y'know like what happened with RENEE, I would have been really, really pissed. 
> 
> This, though? I like this. I like this A LOT. It's respectful to the both of them, while also suggesting that it had nothing to do with Kate's work, or Maggie's work, or anything so petty as a random argument, or anything as stupid as a vampire. It was about family. And you really cannot fault either of them for choosing their own. It was the right choice, even if it wasn't the happiest one.
> 
> Also neither of them are dead, so, there's that.


End file.
